The Wee Hours

As you sleep and dream, the playful Wee Hours appear when the clock strikes one, two, three and four. These mischievous creatures pull books from your shelves, build towers from your shoes, put on plays behind your curtains and do backflips off your bedposts. As morning draws near, the older hours emerge to tidy up the mess the Wee Hours have made, and carry them off to bed.

Written by Stephanie Watson, illustrated by Mary GrandPré
Disney-Hyperion
For all ages

For children who wonder what goes on while they’re asleep, Watson suggests one possibility: Little elfin creatures arrive, one at a time, on the hour, and wreak mischievous mayhem in children’s bedrooms, emptying bureau drawers, pulling down curtains and interfering with dreams. As dawn approaches, older, more responsible Hours arrive to tidy up and tuck the Wee Hours into their own beds. GrandPré, who ­illustrated the American editions of the “Harry Potter” series, here uses rich purples and velvety reds to evoke a moonlit room full of mysterious shadows. Though there’s not a wand in sight, there’s plenty of magic in play.–The New York Times

Children will be tickled to see the wee hours of the morning come to life as irresistible, toddlerlike imps in this whimsical tale.–Kirkus

The Wee Hours–whose apparent ages correspond to their respective hours–release birds, horses, and dinosaurs from the girl’s dreams and make a mess of her room with mischief worthy of The Cat in the Hat’s Thing One and Thing Two. GrandPré’s (Flight of the Last Dragon) luminous pastels convey the rabble-rousers’ infectious enthusiasm and create playful chaos.–Publishers Weekly